


By The Water's Edge

by ghost_like



Series: 31 Days of Halloween 2k18 [1]
Category: VIXX
Genre: Body Horror, Horror, Psychological Horror, spooky stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-23 13:10:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16159616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghost_like/pseuds/ghost_like
Summary: The woods around them were peaceful, the lake placid and undisturbed, not even enough wind to make the surface of the water ripple.Wonshik still felt watched, though.





	By The Water's Edge

**Author's Note:**

> IT'S FINALLY HALLOWEEN!
> 
> because i love halloween and all things horror i decided to try and write a spooky fic a day throughout the month. i'm sorry in advance, because you'll be seeing me a lot. yeah. anyway.
> 
> prompts come from [here](https://horrorbingo.livejournal.com/1125.html), if you're interested! i chose 31 one of them, and i'll be posting it in no particular order.
> 
> this first prompt is "something in the lake"
> 
> enjoy! ~~(and i'm sorry if it's too spoopy~~ )

It was a tradition, standard procedure at that point: vacation meant a trip to Hongbin’s parents’ lake house.

It was already their fourth year going, and Wonshik was, like the others, excited - an entire weekend of no responsibilities, eating junk food and messing around with his five best friends, not a care in the world. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that was the time he looked forward to the most in the year, surpassing even his fondness towards Christmas.

The cabin was located somewhere in the mountains at the edge of a wide lake, in the middle of nowhere. It was a small, humble little thing, really, made with rustic, unpainted logs and clay roof tiles, exactly like the cabins one would see in movies. It had two small bedrooms, one bathroom, a decent sized living room and a kitchen that gave Taekwoon headaches - _“It’s too small, my legs barely fit in here!”._ Outside, the porch went around the cabin, the area in the back of the cabin, which faced the lake, wider and used as a deck. There was where they spent most of their time during the visits to the cabin, and that is where they were when Wonshik began to notice something was off.

It had been a normal day thus far - they woke up late after staying up for longer than they probably should, had some burgers for lunch, and now they were playing around and laughing, Wonshik’s iPhone blasting music. Hakyeon was lounging in one of the recliners, looking like a celebrity with his over the top sunglasses, while Taekwoon, occupying the recliner next to Hakyeon’s, was watching the others play around and occasionally tossing Cheetos at them. Jaehwan and Sanghyuk were in the middle of what _looked_ like a dance-off, but that had somehow descended into a competition of who could come up with the most ridiculous dance move. Hongbin was egging them on but not taking part in it himself - as per usual. If he did, Hongbin would spend at least a month cringing.

And Wonshik himself was sitting on a chair next to the table where he’d placed his iPhone, after having proclaimed himself the official DJ.

Deciding to give the dancing warmongers something else to shake their asses to, Wonshik took his phone and began scrolling through his music library. He raised one hand and stopped the music, receiving protests from Sanghyuk, Jaehwan, and Hongbin.

“Calm down, don’t kill the DJ!” Wonshik pleaded. “But let’s make this interesting, whoever dances this next song best gets to pick the movie later tonight.”

“I have to win this, if Jaehwan makes us watch Spiderman again I’m going to jump off a cliff,” Sanghyuk groaned, rubbing at his face.

“Excuse _you_ , Spiderman is a goddamn classic!”

“Easy, no blood on this dance floor,” Wonshik joked and Hongbin sent him one of his judgmental glares. “Take a breather, when the song starts Hongbin will start judging.”

“I’ve started judging a long time ago, trust me.”

“I mean _actual_ judging, you’ll choose the winner.”

“There are no winners here, but I suppose I can point out the least loser of the two.”

“That’s— Good enough. Get ready!” Wonshik warned, raising his hand to indicate they were on standby; Jaehwan and Sanghyuk were staring at the iPhone in Wonshik’s possession with fire in their eyes.

It was then that Wonshik felt it - that prickling, uncomfortable sensation at the back of his neck, like someone was staring right at him. It was a sensation so strong that Wonshik turned around, searching the scenery for the source of his discomfort. It was high afternoon, the sky clear and the sun bright above, casting light over everything that surrounded the cabin. He could see far enough to be able to count the trees on the other side of the lake, and after a few seconds swiveling his head around, he found nothing. Nobody. The woods around them were peaceful, the lake placid and undisturbed, not even enough wind to make the surface of the water ripple.

Wonshik still felt watched, though.

“Shik? Something wrong?” Hongbin asked and Wonshik turned to find his friends watching him with puzzled expressions on their faces - except for Taekwoon and Hakyeon, who had fallen asleep on the recliners.

“I don’t know, don’t you guys feel like there’s someone watching us?” Wonshik asked. He turned around again to give another once over at their surroundings. Nothing.

“Not really?” Sanghyuk said with a slight lilt, also looking around.

“Yeah, I don’t feel anything,” Jaehwan agreed, one eyebrow arched. Wonshik wasn’t sure if in confusion or judgment.

“I guess I’m just imagining things then. Nevermind,” he said. Wonshik cleared his throat and returned his attention to his friends. “Alright, get ready!”

After that, Wonshik had a hard time relaxing. There was a feeling of dread permeating the air, something he’d never felt before and hoped never to feel again, an intense certainty that _something_ was not right. Not even as the bubbly music played and his friends danced like idiots did the feeling go away, those invisible eyes still burning holes on the back of his neck.

He chalked it up to him just being tired after not getting enough sleep the night before and tried to ignore the nagging sensation that raised goosebumps all over his body.

“What’s that?” Sanghyuk suddenly asked, panting after the exertion of the ridiculous dance he was doing - they’d be watching Spiderman again, to their collective horror.

All of them followed Sanghyuk’s line of sight, and Wonshik immediately found the source of his confusion - around the center of the lake, there was— Something. He couldn’t make out what it was, exactly, but he could tell it was maybe a little smaller than a basketball, round, dark and shiny. It hadn’t been there earlier when Wonshik looked, but now there it was, bobbing peacefully in the middle of the lake as if it belonged to the scenery.

“Maybe it’s a log?” Jaehwan tried, his voice a little bit too loud, which startled Hakyeon awake.

“Wh-what— Why are you screaming?” Hakyeon groaned - whined - and kicked his legs in a show of frustration for having his nap interrupted. As none of them gave him attention, Hakyeon immediately realized they were preoccupied with something and got to his feet, shuffling closer to the deck’s railings. “What are you all looking at?”

“There,” Hongbin said, pointing at the shape in the lake, and Hakyeon slid his sunglasses up and squinted at it for a few seconds.

“Weird. Maybe a crow or a bat?”

“Aw, I hope not, poor thing!” Jaehwan exclaimed, lips jutted out in a pout. “Shouldn’t we see what it is? Try to save it?”

“I don’t know…” Hongbin said, scratching the back of his neck thoughtfully as he looked out at the thing. “It’s all the way in the middle of the lake, even if it’s an animal it’ll be dead before we get a chance to reach it.”

“And it’s not moving right now anyway, it’s probably too late already,” Sanghyuk agreed, grim.

“Don’t let Daeguni hear you say that.” Jaehwan murmured but seemed resigned to the fate of the probable victim of a flying accident that found its resting place in the middle of the lake. “Come on, let’s go inside, I don’t want to look at it.”

Sanghyuk clucked his tongue, “Now that I was about to demand a rematch!?”

“You lost once, you’d just lose again,” Jaehwan sniffed, raising his head arrogantly and tossing his invisible weave back.

“No fighting,” Hakyeon scolded just as Sanghyuk opened his mouth to protest. “It’s getting cold anyway, let’s clear up and get inside.”

“And then we’re playing Overwatch, _that_ will be the rematch,” Sanghyuk said as he began picking up the empty bowls of snacks.

“There will be _no_ rematch!” Jaehwan protested, also moving to clear up the mess they’d made.

Wonshik wasn’t paying attention, eyes lingering on that odd mass floating in the water, the dread he’d been feeling doubling, bouncing around inside him just as the mass bobbed in the lake, up and down and up and down. That thing— It wasn’t supposed to be there. Wonshik just knew, like he’d been born with that knowledge, even if he wanted so bad to believe his friends were right, that it was just a log or unfortunate animal or something equally as harmless. It had to be.

“Wonshik?” Hongbin’s voice startled him, causing him to scramble to face his friend. “Woah, calm down, what’s up with you?”

“Sorry, I’m— I guess I’m a bit jumpy,” Wonshik sheepishly said.

“Yeah, no kidding,” Hongbin said, then shook his head and sighed, tugging on Wonshik’s shirt to urge him to move. “Let’s go, everyone is already inside.”

Both reluctant and eager, Wonshik gathered his phone and followed Hongbin inside, closing the glass sliding door behind him. He stared at the mass at the lake for a few seconds longer, and, shuddering, move further into the cabin to join his friends.

 

***

 

Wonshik believed he would feel better once he was safely indoors, but was he wrong - he still felt on edge, like he was in a scene of a horror movie right before the big bad jumps out, the type of scene that made the audience hold their breath and tense up, waiting for the scare to come.

No scare came; thus, he was stuck in that state of agonizing anticipation, not knowing why or how to make it stop. He seemed to be the only one feeling like that, too - not even Hakyeon, known scaredy cat, was showing any signs he was nervous, playing a card game with Taekwoon on the couch and looking like the picture of comfort. Taekwoon was quiet, but then again, Taekwoon was usually a quiet person unless he wanted attention, which he didn’t at the moment. Hongbin, Jaehwan, and Sanghyuk, however, were loud as they played video games, screaming rather colorful insults at each other that had Hakyeon chiding ‘ _language!’_ at them from time to time. Wonshik himself was in the couch, leaning against Taekwoon’s back and watching the others play games absently. He couldn’t focus, not with that buzzing feeling of _somethingsomethingsomethingsomething_ in the back of his mind.

The couch where they were sitting was placed right under the window, window through which they could see the lake - the curtains were shut, though. They had been since they’d settled down, for the sun was too bright and casting light on the TV, making it hard for them to see what was happening on the screen.

He didn’t want to open that curtain. Somebody, probably Hakyeon, would open it eventually, as he always did - he liked to see the stars, is what he claimed. Yes, sure, the stars out there were lovely, but Wonshik was sure that seeing the stars was not as important as not shitting bricks out of fear.

He felt stupid for feeling like that, though. There was nothing to be afraid of, they had been to the cabin many times before and it was perfectly safe, so why  _now_ —

Taekwoon made a disgruntled noise and shook his shoulder, dislodging Wonshik. “Your chin is poking me.”

“Sorry,” Wonshik mumbled, changing the position he’d been leaning on Taekwoon. “Better?”

“Mhm,” Taekwoon hummed, eyes focused on his cards.

“Can you open the curtains, please?” Hakyeon requested, Wonshik’s stomach pummeling down in response.

“Y-yeah, sure,” Wonshik agreed, already knowing that refusing would lead to questions and the questions would then lead to teasing, and after steeling himself, pulled the curtains open in a quick movement.

He held his breath, expecting to see a manner of monster, a ghost on the other side of the glass, and found— Nothing. He exhaled slowly, eyes searching the darkness outside for something, anything that could be the source of his dread. The moon was full that night and the sky clear, pale moonlight illuminating just enough for Wonshik to be able to see shapes, the outlines of things.

Immediately, his gaze was drawn to the lake. He looked to the place they’d last seen the dark mass, and relief washed over him when couldn’t spot it. It must have floated away, or sunk into the water. They were safe from whatever that thing was, yes.

He was ready to turn around go back to watch his friends wage video game war, when a movement out on the lake caught his eye.

His entire body shuddered, chills running up and down his spine.

The thing was closer. Much closer.

“Wonshik, what’s wrong?” Taekwoon asked, turning around to face him. “You’re pale, are you feeling alright?”

Wonshik shakily pointed out the window at the thing, and Taekwoon, frowning, followed the direction he’d indicated. His frown only deepened when he spotted it.

“What the—”

“What, what?” Hakyeon asked as he crawled from his side of the couch closer to where Wonshik and Taekwoon were, also looking out at the thing in the lake. Hakyeon gasped, half hiding behind Taekwoon’s shoulder. “Is that— Is that what it looks like?”

Wonshik, numb, nodded.

From where it was now, near the edge of the lake well within reach of the light in the deck, it was clear - Wonshik could make out the eyes, the surface of them reflecting the moonlight. The dark mass they’d seen was hair, long and black, floating in tendrils over the water. He couldn’t tell if it was a woman or a man, if it was alive or dead, if it was even _human_ —

Taekwoon spoke out his thoughts in a shaky whisper, “That’s— That’s a head, isn’t it?”

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/ghostlike91) | [tumblr](https://ghostlike91.tumblr.com/) | [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/ghostlike) | [ko-fi](https://ko-fi.com/ghostlike91)


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